19 Apr 2017

Sex education might be the most awkward thing in the world. While it’s kinda comical watching your teacher unravel a condom in front of the whole class, there’s also a tendency to conjure an image of him or her getting some, which is the stuff nightmares are made of.

Most of what you learn in sex ed is pretty obvious–use protection, don’t be a creep and don’t do anything you might regret later. And while your teacher tells you to memorise words like “mammary” and “vas deferens”, there seems to be a lot of things that are left unsaid in sex ed.

1. Consent is sexy

The word “consent” gets thrown around like it’s a pesky obstacle to having sex. It’s as if you’re supposed to whip out a waiver form and get your lover to sign off on it before anything happens. Obviously that would just be really awkward, but consent is actually a super important element of sex.

Just as it’s really important to be clear when you’re not feeling it, it’s also really important to affirm when you’re enjoying it. Getting a verbal cue that your lover is down with what’s happening is sexy as hell.

2. Sexting is pretty normal, but you’ve got to do it right

We live in a digital world, so sexting has become a pretty normal part of it. But there are ground rules. Only send pics to people you trust, don’t going showing sexy pics to anyone who wants to see them, crop out distinguishing features and pls, don’t send unsolicited dick pics. Here’s a bit more from us on safe sexting.

3. Watching a lot of porn probably won’t make you better in bed

Let’s be honest, the internet is filled with porn and a lot of people watch it, whether they admit it or not. The average age of exposure to pornography in young men is 8-11-years-old. For the majority of people, that’s long before their first kiss. Shiiiiit.

The thing is though, most porn is just some dude’s fantasy of how they want sex to be. Most of the time it depicts sex in a way that women don’t actually enjoy or identify with. This is an important one to remember, fellas. Be aware that for most people, sex is nothing like porn. That doesn’t mean it’s not good.

The law

  • The age of consent is 16 in all states except South Australia and Tasmania, where it’s 17.
  • If both parties are underage and engage in some “sexual exploration” it’s generally considered ok under the law. It becomes a problem when one person is over the age of consent and the other is under the age of consent.
  • When someone is really drunk or high, they can’t legally give consent, even if they’re saying yes. So having sex with someone when they’re too far gone can be considered rape in many cases. This is really important to be wary of.